The St. Louis Blues have been saying throughout the summer that they felt they could get a deal done to sell the franchise. Current owner Dave Checketts is looking to get out of the game and give the opportunity to buy the team to someone else.

One person who wanted to buy the Blues was Calgary businessman Max Chambers. Chambers is the CEO of Sonoma Equities and Great Northern Capital Partners and worth a bit of a money himself. Chambers had a hefty bid to put in for the Blues, but was told that it just wasn’t good enough.

“The offer of $167 (million) was my maximum,” Chambers said. “We think that’s the most they’ve been offered. Obviously they haven’t been offered $190 because $190 was the figure to take it off the auction block. I don’t think anyone has over-topped our offer of $167.

“I think $190 is a little aggressive with the value of the franchise. We felt $167 was aggressive, so their counter at $190 was real aggressive in our view.”

Playing a game of chicken when it comes to buying a team is a fun way to negotiate but Chambers’ bid isn’t the only one out there for the team. A group that involves Hall of Famer Bryan Trottier is also out there for the Blues to examine a bid from. Whether or not they’re looking at paying the $190 million asking price remains to be seen.

Still, turning down an all cash bid like that either shows the Blues have a better offer elsewhere or they’re going to hold a hard line to get the money they’re looking for. If the Blues are looking to make their own deadline, let’s hope that it’s the former rather than the latter so the NHL can avoid having yet another ownership debacle to deal with.